COVID-19 Slows Down Economic Recovery

The index of current assessments of the overall economic situation decreases in November (excluding seasonal fluctuations) by 3.4 points to –12.5 points. However, significant differences can be seen across sectors. In the service sectors, the index fell by 5.0 points to –17.4 points, which puts it clearly back into negative territory. In the construction industry, the situation index shows only a slight decrease of 0.9 points. However, at 8.6 points, the index is still in positive territory. For the manufacturing sector, the situation index lost 1.7 points, and at –11.7 points is still in sceptical territory.

The expectations of Austrian companies have deteriorated across all sectors compared to the previous month. The index of business expectations lost 7.1 points in November and is still in the sceptical range at –16.9 points. In the construction industry alone, despite a decline of 4.2 points, the expectation index is at 2.7 points still above the zero line separating negative from positive expectations. In the service branches, the expectation index lost 8.2 points and, at –20.4 points, is now in line with the spring figures. The expectations index for the manufacturing sector also lost considerable momentum (–6.1 points) and is now clearly in negative territory at –17.5 points. The majority of the companies expects an economic development dominated by COVID-19 in the coming months.

Details on all sectors in the current economic survey can be found here.